US chem industry faces crisis of trust from BP spill – trade group

08 June 2010 19:23[Source: ICIS news]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (ICIS news)--The US chemical industry must deal with a crisis of trust exacerbated by the BP oil spill in the US Gulf, the chairman of the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) board of directors said on Tuesday.

“With the BP oil spill, the issue is no longer just about oil and goes beyond the environment, jobs and the economy. It is about trust,” said Brian Ferguson, executive chairman of US-based Eastman Chemical and chairman of the ACC.

“A global high profile industry has lost the trust of key stakeholders, and I suspect that many industries have been tarnished in the process,” he said.

“American institutions face a crisis of trust, and the chemical industry and our products remain at the front, or near the front of the line,” the chairman added.

The US chemical industry would face tough challenges ahead on the regulatory front, said Ferguson.

“We face product attacks in Congress and at the state and local levels, and fear-mongering and junk science often outweigh meaningful risk analysis. Our progress on opening up the OCS (outer continental shelf) for drilling has been eroded and we face a regulatory barrage from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) reform,” he said.

However, the ACC chairman said the good news was that “this is the strongest, most capable ACC we have ever known.”